In SF mayor’s race, Breed gets Wiener’s endorsement, but Leno has it too

California State Senator Scott Wiener and San Francisco Acting Mayor London Breed wait for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day program to begin at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, January 15, 2018.

Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, endorsed Supervisor London Breed’s mayoral bid on Monday during a brief campaign rally at Jane Warner Plaza in the city’s Castro District. It’s the second candidate for mayor Wiener has pledged to support, following his endorsement of Mark Leno last year.

Wiener declined, however, to say which of the two would be his first pick in the city’s ranked-choice ballot system.

“They’re both exceptional candidates and either one would be a great mayor,” he said.

Wiener and Breed overlapped for four years while both served on the Board of Supervisors. During that time, Wiener said he “witnessed firsthand her leadership and her ability to bring people together to solve hard issues.”

While on the board, Wiener and Breed collaborated on several pieces of legislation, including bills to revamp the city’s bus and train fleets, and expand the city’s clean energy program.

Should Breed become mayor, she could also help marshal support for Wiener’s ambitious bill, SB 827, which seeks to grow housing stock by increasing density along transit corridors.

The bill has proven to be divisive in San Francisco, in part over concerns about how much local control would be ceded to the state on critical housing decisions. Breed has signaled her support for the bill, but has said she wants to see greater protections put in place to prevent against displacement and a clearer definition of what constitutes a “transit corridor.”

Breed touted her long-standing relationship with Wiener, whom she said “I love and I admire and I respect tremendously. There is no greater advocate we can have in Sacramento right now.”

Dominic Fracassa covers San Francisco City Hall for The Chronicle. He previously worked as a reporter and editor for the Daily Journal, a legal affairs newspaper. He started in news in his home state of Michigan, where he worked as a news director of 103.9 WLEN.